ABSTRACT
In a footnote to their edition of Philip Henslowe’s Diary, editors R. A. Foakes and R. T. Rickert write that the entry commonly used to establish Oldcastle’s first performance date between November 1 and November 8, 1599 was written in actor Samuel Rowley’s own hand. The first and last scenes of Oldcastle require the most speaking roles, eleven in the first scene and fourteen in the last. The only other scene in the play that has most of the major actors on the stage at the same time is scene xii where ten characters King Harry, Suffolk, Butler, Huntington, Sir John, Acton, Murley, Beverley, Cobham, and Bishop appear. Trying to work out a doubling system in Oldcastle, for clearly most of the actors played more than one role, is a difficult task. With respect to the staging of Oldcastle at the Rose theatre something more than educated hunches can be offered.
